THE DEFENSE

Q: Love the Civic. How did you know you wanted one?

A: My stepdad was a minister for 30 years. When he retired, he got bored. For a little while, he became a car salesman. A minister converted to a car dealer! [My husband] Adam and I had moved from London to the Bay Area. We didn’t have a car. My stepdad and my mom came out to visit and he went to all the dealerships for me. He was like, “You want a Honda Civic?” So we got it.

Q: How long have you been married?

A: Eight years. We bought the car a few months after we got married.

Q: Is that why you’re holding onto it as long as possible?

A: Yeah, maybe.

Q: That’s a lot of miles on it.

A: Good car, good marriage.

Q: Where’s the farthest you’ve ever driven in this car?

A: When we lived in the Bay Area, we drove to Portland. I think that’s probably the farthest. We did a lot of trips down to L.A. then too, but Portland is farther, right?

Q: I don’t know. How long was the Bay Area to Portland drive?

A: Oh, I don’t know. I slept most of it. I think Adam did the whole drive. Eight hours maybe?

Q: Why were you guys going up there?

A: We have a tradition of the day after Thanksgiving, we pack up all of our leftovers and take a drive. The very first year we had this car was our very first Thanksgiving in San Francisco. We didn’t know anybody, so we made this huge meal just for the two of us. The next day, we packed up everything and drove down the coast to Hearst Castle.

Q: Is that your favorite trip or is there someplace else?

A: There are these cabins in Idyllwild. They’re really old and kind of run down, but they’re really cheap. A good drive up there is I think two, two and a half hours. A lot of times, we’ll just go for a long weekend, up to the cabins and back.

Q: Sounds peaceful. What do you think your next car will realistically be?

A: See, I don’t know because I’d like another Civic. I love this car. I’m kind of superstitious now because I kind of feel like this car is made to be my car, but I would kind of like to upgrade. Like we have, you know, what do you call these, manual windows? There’s no cruise control. It’s all manual locks. I would like that kind of an upgrade, but other than that I don’t really care. I like the Civic. I would buy another one. I’d get a different color, but I’d buy a new one of these.

Q: What’s your absolute dream car?

A: I’ve always wanted one of those 1950s pickup trucks. I don’t know what they’re called, like a Ford I guess. You know, just the really old ones in a cool ice blue or vintage green.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this car?

A: I don’t know. It’s just been a really solid car. The brake pads, I think I’ve had to replace twice. Obviously that’s my fault. I’ve had to replace the tires. Obviously that’s my fault. Other than that, there’s not been a single issue with this car. I’m really proud of this car. The only problem with this car is that the bumpers get scratched up really easily. I’ve seen that on other people’s Civics, too.